Livor Mortis

by Mack Rogers

People like a certain shade of purple.

Black Panther beat til he turn purple.

That royal purple.

Bruised, butchered, and welcomed to the after-

life purple. Put that on a t shirt purple.

We like that Barney purple. David Joyner

purple. Green underbelly with

a set of perfect white teeth.

The family friendly kind of purple.

The color purple

that pisses God off

if you don’t notice it.

We wear purple for mourning

one April morning for our prince.

A purple downpour.

People like that end of the world

be with the one you love

and let your faith guide you through

purple. People pay attention to

the last color in the rainbow

because they got to.

There, where dreams

are confronted, to be

deferred and dried up or

to unite us

a family all along.

We crave that sacrificial purple.

So that one day at the end

when all our individual efforts

bring us home, we can look back

and appreciate all we’ve gone through

to leave this place rich and full

of color and hope that people

can respect not only the end

but the beginning as well.